Coos County Business Expo and Conference
October 29, 2014

 Town & Country Inn & Resort- Gorham, NH 

A collaborative effort to connect and engage our business community to build positive relationships for the betterment of Coos County. Come experience the power of networking and learn from your neighbors!

Sign up to be an exhibitor and take advantage of professional business to business networking opportunities at our Expo featuring businesses from Coos County and beyond. Exhibitors and participants alike can also enjoy seminars held throughout the day on strategies for building more successful and prosperous businesses. A delicious sit-down lunch in the T&C's lovely dining room is included. 

EVENT SCHEDULE:

8:00 am-9:00 am: Registration and Expo Set-Up  

9:15 am: Welcome Message

9:30 am -10:45 am:  1st Round of Workshop Sessions

Session 1: Preparing the Next Generation: Connecting and aligning educators and the business community

Facilitator – Andrea Muller, Appalachian Mountain Club
Panel of Speakers: 
David Backler – Gorham Middle High School, Principal
Mary Laturnau - Project Lead The Way
John Dyer – White Mountains Community College
David Rochefort – Eastern States Compounding Pharmacy, Owner and Chief Pharmacist
  

Session 2: Main Streets: A discussion of what is working in our downtowns and how to build on our success 

Facilitator –  Marilinne Cooper,
Women’s Rural Entrepreneurial Network, Executive Director
Panel of Speakers:
Lauren Anderson – Littleton Chamber of Commerce 
Jane Storella – Colonial Theater 

11:00 am -12:15 pm: 2nd Round of Workshop Sessions

Session 1: North Country Success Stories:  A discussion of the strategies and lessons that have allowed these businesses and initiatives to thrive in the North Country. 

Facilitator – Karl Stone,
Northern Community Investment Corporation, Marketing Manager
Panel of Speakers:
Mark Peabody – Mahoosuc Inn, Owner
Mary Gueymard – Kheops International, Inc., COO/CFO
Harry Brown – North Country OHRV Coalition, President

Session 2: Attraction and Tourism Packaging Strategies and Trends 

Presented by Jan Barker– Board Secretary, North Country Chamber of Commerce

12:30-2:00 pm: Expo is Closed

12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch

Enjoy a delicious full service luncheon of a stuffed chicken entrée or vegetarian option in the dining room of the Town and Country Inn and Resort.  

1:30- 2:00 pm: Keynote Address- Mil Duncan, Founding Director of the Carsey Institute

2:00-4:30 pm: Expo Open to Public

4:30-5:00 pm: Social and networking hour - Stick around for a chance to win one of our great giveaways!    

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
 

Mil Duncan- Founding Director of the Carsey Institute 

Cynthia "Mil" Duncan is founding director of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, which she oversaw from 2004 to 2011. Currently, Mill is the research director at AGree, an initiative bringing together diverse interests to transform food and agricultural policy in the United States.

Widely recognized for her research on rural poverty and changing rural communities, Mil was a sociologist at UNH for eleven years before leaving to become director of the Ford Foundation’s Community and Resource Development Unit in 2000. At the Ford Foundation, she was responsible for a team of national and international leaders in the community development, youth, and environmental fields. Mil was the associate director of the Rural Economic Policy Program at the Aspen Institute prior to her former work at the university.

In 1999, Mil published Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America, which received the American Sociological Association’s Robert E. Park Award for the best book in community and urban sociology. She is the author of numerous book chapters and refereed articles. She received a doctorate degree from the University of Kentucky in sociology and is a recipient of the University of Kentucky Department of Sociology Thomas R. Ford Distinguished Alumni Award. Mil has a bachelor's degree from Stanford University.

Click HERE to learn more about the
Panel of Speakers for each Workshop